8 Times WWE Rewarded Its UK Audience

2. The Greatest Match In Raw History?

Shawn Michaels John Cena
WWE.com

Is John Cena vs. Shawn Michaels on 23 April 2007 the greatest match in the history of Monday Night Raw? If it’s not, it’s certainly in the conversation. To many wrestling fans, though, this WrestleMania 23 match is their go-to answer when it comes to Raw’s best ever contest.

While that ‘Mania 23 bout was a half-hour affair that saw Michaels tap out to the STFU, the rematch at London’s Earls Court lasted for nearly a whole hour – and this time it was The Heartbreak Kid who emerged victorious, after a swift Sweet Chin Music saw him get the rare clean win over Cena.

For any match that goes anywhere close to an hour, it’s hard to keep fans fully invested in what they’re seeing. In Cena vs. Michaels, this was far from the case, as the action was at such a pace and intensity that each and every person was engaged in what they saw for the contest’s 55 minutes.

Many will cite Bret Hart vs. Shawn Michaels, Kurt Angle vs. Brock Lesnar, and Chris Benoit vs. Triple H as prime examples of near-perfect hour-long WWE matches, but WWE has never delivered a more entertaining, gripping, and fundamentally phenomenal lengthy match as John Cena vs. Shawn Michaels in 2007.

Senior Writer
Senior Writer

Once described as the Swiss Army Knife of WhatCulture, Andrew can usually be found writing, editing, or presenting on a wide range of topics. As a lifelong wrestling fan, horror obsessive, and comic book nerd, he's been covering those topics professionally as far back as 2010. In addition to his current WhatCulture role of Senior Content Producer, Andrew previously spent nearly a decade as Online Editor and Lead Writer for the world's longest-running genre publication, Starburst Magazine, and his work has also been featured on BBC, TechRadar, Tom's Guide, WhatToWatch, Sportkskeeda, and various other outlets, in addition to being a Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic. Between his main day job, his role as the lead panel host of Wales Comic Con, and his gig as a pre-match host for Wrexham AFC games, Andrew has also carried out a hugely varied amount of interviews, from the likes of Robert Englund, Kane Hodder, Adrienne Barbeau, Rob Zombie, Katharine Isabelle, Leigh Whannell, Bruce Campbell, and Tony Todd, to Kevin Smith, Ron Perlman, Elijah Wood, Giancarlo Esposito, Simon Pegg, Charlie Cox, the Russo Brothers, and Brian Blessed, to Kevin Conroy, Paul Dini, Tara Strong, Will Friedle, Burt Ward, Andrea Romano, Frank Miller, and Rob Liefeld, to Bret Hart, Sting, Mick Foley, Ricky Starks/Saints, Jamie Hayter, Britt Baker, Eric Bischoff, and William Regal, to Mickey Thomas, Joey Jones, Phil Parkinson, Brian Flynn, Denis Smith, Gary Bennett, Karl Connolly, and Bryan Robson - and that's just the tip of an ever-expanding iceberg. Where his beloved Wrexham AFC is concerned, Andrew is co-host of the Fearless in Devotion podcast, which won the Club Podcast of the Year gong at the 2024 FSA Awards.